Cane harvester



Jan. 191926. 1,516,269

J. A. MELANCON CANE HAM/ESTER Filed Sept. 29. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J.A. MELANCON 01mm muss-ran Filed Sept. 29, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 duo: ona.

Patented Ja 19, 1926. l 1,570,269 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Application filed September 29, 1923. Serial No. 665,667.

To all wkomlt ay concern: 13 designed to operate an endless chain 14' Beit known thatI, JOSEPH A. MELANCON, and another endless chain 15 issimilarly a citizen ofthe United Sta tes, residing, a l by the motor.. am u i 'th parish of Ascension v A suitjble arrangemento'f disk cutters,and State of Louisiana, have invented a new one of Which has beenindicated at 16, is

and useful Cane Harvester, of which'the provlded adjacent the wheels 2.following is a specification. e Upstandlng structures are provided onThis invention relates to a machme for the sides of the frame 1 asindicated at 17 harvesting cane and is designed more espeand mountedthereon are rotatable gears 18 I cially, as an improvement upon thestructure and'19hav1ng sprockets 20 connected theredisclosed in PatentNo. 839,945 lssued on to and rotatable therewith. These sprocketsJanuary 1 t, 1907 p 7 support endless chains 21 provided with lat- Qneof theobjects of the lnventlon 1S tO erally extending fingers 22. A gear23 provide a ma chine of this character wlth eshes wltheach gear 18andhas a sprocket Y opposed groupsof' strippers, certam of the 24krotatable therewitlrand engaged by the strippers of each group operatlngto strap cha1n15. The structurerthus far described thecanewhile-standingwhile the remaining ,l l'as already been disclosed in our patentstrippersiofeach group operate to remove hereinbefore referred to, and,in itself; conthe cane topsas fast as h y a e r d y Stitutes nopartfofthe present invention. 7'

the top cutters of the machine. 'Fixedly connectedto and upstanding from.A further object is to improve upon the each slde of the main frame 1and between structure of the machine by renderlng the the chains 21 areparallel tubular uprights top cutting mechanism more substantial and 25on wh1ch is mounted a cross head 26 yieldefiicient by the use ofadditlonal supports mgly supported by springs 27 mounted on 90 25 d idthe uprlghts. This cross head is operated With the foregoing and otherob ects 1n and 1s of substantially the same construction View which willappear as the descriptlon as the one disclosed in our patent hereinbe- Yproceeds, the invention resides in the oomblfore referred to and haslongitudinal shafts nation and arrangement of parts and 1n the 281ournaled therein and provided with lap- 30 details of constructionhereinafter described ping cutting disks 29 rotatable in substanandclaimed, it being understood that tially vertical planes. Each shaft 28is prochanges in the precise embodiment of the 1nvided with a gear 29meshing with a gear 30 vention herein disclosed may be made w1thon avertical shaft 31 and these shafts are in the scope of what is claimedwithout (16- slidable in a top plate or table 32 fixedly parting fromthe spirit of the 1nvent1on. mounted on the upper ends of the uprightsIn the accompanying drawings the pre- 25 ferred form of the inventionhas been shown. E h h ft 31 i f th d i a gear 33 In saiddrawingsswiveled in the top plate or table 32 and Fi 1 i a v rticallongitudinal S e each of these gears 33 meshes with a gear 34 tionthrough the machine, said section being carried by a Shaft 35 journaledon the top taken on the line 1-1 Figure 2. plate or table. Another gear36 is secured Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the f I to each shaft 35 andthese gears 36 mesh portion of the machine. with corresponding gears 37secured to a Referring to the figures by characters of transverse shaft38 journaled on the top reference 1 designates the main or suppq plateor table 32. A sprocket 40 is also seing frame of the machine providedwith cured t th h ft 38 d i engaged d front wheels 3 and rear wheels 2,there bed i b h i 14, g a gear 4 rotatable with the Teal Wheels Thestructure last described is Substanand adapted to drive a gear 5 securedto a tially similar to that disclosed in our patent transverse Shaft 6-T is Sh f j all hereinbefore referred to with the exception endlesselevator 7 such as disclosed in our th t i t ad of roviding a singleupright or patent hereinbefore mentioned. A sprocket t d d t h id f thhi ir 8 rotates with the wheels 2 and s ptof standards or uprights isprovided at each to be driven by a chain 9 receiving motion id Th thcross h d 2 i more flifrom a sprocket 10 secured to the shaft 11 cientlyoperated and will not bind as in the f a m t r 12- Shaft 11 also has asprocket old construction and the entire structure is rendered moredurable as well as efficient. The cross head can be adjusted verticallyby the means disclosed in our patent herein mentioned or in any othersuitable manner and the mechanism carried by this cross head is designedto shift upwardly and downwardly automatically under the action of thestalks passing thereunder and to cut off the tops of the stalks. Thesefeatures in themselves are no part of the present invention but havealready been disclosed in our prior patent.

An improvement of considerable impor tance is provided at the front endof the machine. This includes guide supports 41 and journaled in thesesupports at each side of the frame are nonalining longitudinal shafts 42and 43, there being a gear 44 at the front end of the upper shaft 42that constantly meshes with gear 45 on the rear end of the lower shaft43. Gears 46 are provided at the rear ends of the shafts 42 and meshwith the gears 19. A series of stripping arms 47 are provided on eachshaft 42 and a series of stripping arms 48 are provided on each shaft43. It will be apparent that when the machine is driven forward thestripping arms 48 will act to strip the canes that are standing, thesaid arms rotating inwardly and downwardly. At the same time the arms 47rotate in the opposite direction and comb upwardly between the stalks.The fingers 22 pull the cane stalks back so as to bend them beneath thecutters 29 and cause the cane tops, which are thus extended forwardly,to be severed. These tops, when severed, will drop into the paths of thearms 47 which act to throw laterally the cane tops severed by thecutters 29. Thus the machine is rendered more efficient, first, by theaction of the cane strippers 48 in stripping the standing cane, and,second, by the delivery of the severed tops through the action of thearms 47.

What is claimed is The combination with a portable frame and topsevering means carried thereby, of oppositely rotatable shafts adjacenteach side of the frame and in front of the top severing means, means foractuating all of the shafts simultaneously, and means on one shaft ateach side of the frame for stripping standing canes and upon the othershaft at each side of the frame for laterally delivering severed canetops.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature.

JOSEPH A. MELANCON.

